Space vector pulse‐width modulation theory and solution for Z‐source inverters with maximum constant boost control

The theory of space vector pulse‐width modulation (SVPWM) technique for the three‐phase Z‐source inverter has been introduced in detail, and a novel implementation scheme based on the maximum constant boost control method is presented in this paper. Like the traditional carrier‐based maximum constant boost control strategy, the proposed control method is able to achieve the maximum voltage boost ability while always keeping the shoot‐through duty ratio constant. Besides, it inherits the advantages from the SVPWM technique. Compared with carrier‐based strategies, it has wider linear operation range and is easier for digital implementation. The number of switching transition in each switching cycle is reduced, which significantly decreases switching losses. To investigate the advantages of lessening switching losses, three optimal switching patterns are proposed and compared with the carrier‐based strategy. It is demonstrated that the number of switching transition can be reduced by 60% at most by the proposed SVPWM‐based control method. All the theoretical analysis has been validated by the simulation results in MATLAB/Simulink at last. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel PWM technique with switching‐loss reduction for independent drive of two 3‐phase AC motors fed by a five‐leg inverter

This paper presents a novel pulse width modulation (PWM) technique with switching‐loss reduction for a five‐leg inverter (FLI). The PWM technique, in which the available maximum voltage for two motors adds up to DC bus voltage, has been proposed as the strategy for the FLI. Therefore, the DC bus voltage is fully available as the PWM strategy. However, the conventional PWM technique requires the frequency, phase, and amplitude of the phase voltage commands of a motor to produce zero‐sequence voltages (ZSVs). The novel PWM strategy has some efficient features. These features are discussed in this paper. The validity of the novel PWM technique will be shown by experimental results. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Newly proposed hybrid resonant commutation bridge‐leg link snubber‐assisted three‐phase ZVZCS‐PWM soft‐switching inverter

This paper presents the newly proposed hybrid resonant commutation bridge‐leg link (HRCB) snubber circuit which can achieve zero voltage and zero current soft‐switching commutation for single‐phase and three‐phase voltage source‐type inverter, along with its unique features and operation principle. The circuit parameter design approach for the HRCB snubber circuit and the determination estimating scheme of the gate pulse timing processing which is more suitable and acceptable for single‐phase and space voltage vector modulated three‐phase voltage source inverter using the HRCB snubber circuit are described in this paper. In particular, the three‐phase voltage source soft‐switching inverter associated with the proposed HRCB circuits are evaluated and discussed from simulation and experimental viewpoints. The practical effectiveness of the HRCB snubber‐assisted three‐phase voltage source soft‐switching inverter using IGBT power modules which is based on the instantaneous space voltage vector modulation is clarified on the output voltage waveform, actual efficiency of electromagnetic noise in comparison with three‐phase voltage source‐type conventional hard‐switching inverter. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(4): 75–84, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20111     

Experimental investigation of a speed‐sensor‐less IM drive system under Inverter fault‐tolerant control

This paper proposes an algorithm for fault tolerance of three‐phase, inverter‐fed, speed‐sensor‐less control of a three‐phase induction motor drive system. The fault tolerance of the inverter when one switch is open or one leg of six‐switch inverter is lost is considered. The control of the drive system is based on indirect rotor field‐oriented control theory. Also, the speed estimator is based on model reference adaptive system (using stator current and rotor flux as state variables for estimating the speed). The fault‐tolerant algorithm is able to adaptively change over from a six‐switch inverter to a four‐switch inverter topology when a fault occurs; also, it makes a smooth transition of the motor speed, torque, and current when changing over from a faulty condition to a new healthy status, which is four‐switch three‐phase inverter (FSTPI) topology; thus, the six‐switch three‐phase inverter (SSTPI) topology (pre‐fault status) is almost retained for the medium‐power range of induction motor applications. The proposed algorithm is simulated by using the MATLAB/SIMULINK package. Also, the proposed control system is tested experimentally using a digital signal processor (DSP1104). The obtained results from the simulation model and experimental system demonstrate the performance enhancement and good validity of the fault‐tolerance control for the speed‐sensor‐less induction motor drive system. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A novel prototype of auxiliary edge resonant bridge leg link snubber‐assisted soft‐switching sine‐wave PWM inverter

This paper proposes a new circuit topology of the three‐phase soft‐switching PWM inverter and PFC converter using IGBT power modules, which has the improved active auxiliary switch and edge resonant bridge leg‐commutation‐link soft‐switching snubber circuit with pulse current regenerative feedback loop as compared with the typical auxiliary resonant pole snubber discussed previously. This three‐phase soft‐switching PWM double converter is more suitable and acceptable for a large‐capacity uninterruptible power supply, PFC converter, utility‐interactive bidirectional converter, and so forth. In this paper, the soft‐switching operation and optimum circuit design of the novel type active auxiliary edge resonant bridge leg commutation link snubber treated here are described for high‐power applications. Both the main active power switches and the auxiliary active power switches achieve soft switching under the principles of ZVS or ZCS in this three‐phase inverter switching. This three‐phase soft‐switching commutation scheme can effectively minimize the switching surge‐related electromagnetic noise and the switching power losses of the power semiconductor devices; IGBTs and modules used here. This three‐phase inverter and rectifier coupled double converter system does not need any sensing circuit and its peripheral logic control circuits to detect the voltage or the current and does not require any unwanted chemical electrolytic capacitor to make the neutral point of the DC power supply voltage source. The performances of this power conditioner are proved on the basis of the experimental and simulation results. Because the power semiconductor switches (IGBT module packages) have a trade‐off relation in the switching fall time and tail current interval characteristics as well as the conductive saturation voltage characteristics, this three‐phase soft‐switching PWM double converter can improve actual efficiency in the output power ranges with a trench gate controlled MOS power semiconductor device which is much improved regarding low saturation voltage. The effectiveness of this is verified from a practical point of view. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 155(4): 64–76, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20207     

A novel modulation technique with interleaved‐and‐shifted shoot‐through state placement for quasi‐Z‐source inverters

In this paper, a single‐phase quasi‐Z‐source (qZS) inverter (qZSI), integrating the pulse width modulation (PWM) control with interleaved‐and‐shifted shoot‐through state (STS) placement modulation technique, is proposed to simultaneously achieve both dc voltage boost and dc‐ac inversion. Instead of placing the STS in both inverter legs simultaneously, the addressed method inserts the STS only in left/right inverter leg separately during the positive/negative half cycle of the output voltage to reduce switching losses and thermal stresses of the power devices. The STS shift is also studied to decrease the switching numbers of power devices and thus can improve the efficiency further. Theoretical analysis and design guidelines of the studied inverter are included. Improvement in effectiveness and performance of the devised scheme and modulation strategy are proved experimentally and compared with the previous studies on a built laboratory prototype.     

A comprehensive study of space vector pulse‐width modulation technique for three‐phase Z‐source inverters

The space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique has received much attention for three‐phase Z‐source inverters (ZSIs). The differences and connections between the SVPWM technique for ZSIs and for traditional voltage source inverters have been discussed as well. By selecting different null state and shoot‐through state, three switching patterns with different switching numbers have been studied, and the harmonic spectrums of these three patterns are demonstrated. In this paper, the solutions of maximum boost control and constant boost control methods using SVPWM techniques with less switching actions have been proposed and compared with the carrier‐based strategies. Selected experimental results have been provided to validate the theoretical analysis. This work will be beneficial for understanding the SVPWM concept and modulation techniques of the three‐phase ZSIs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A nine‐switch inverter for driving two AC motors independently

This paper presents a nine‐switch inverter that can drive two AC motors independently. Recently, as an inverter that can drive them independently, a five‐leg inverter has been proposed. Ten switching devices are used for the five‐leg inverter, whereas only nine are used for the nine‐switch inverter. So, the nine‐switch inverter has the merit that one switching device can be reduced compared to the five‐leg inverter. Moreover, the maximum output voltage of the nine‐switch inverter equals that of the five‐leg inverter. In this work, we propose the structure of the nine‐switch inverter and a modulation method for the same, and validate the nine‐switch inverter by showing simulation results. Copyright © 2007 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Power factor improvement of single‐phase diode rectifier circuit by field‐weakening of inverter‐driven IPM motor

This paper proposes a novel inverter drive system to improve the input power factor of single‐phase diode rectifier. Conventional rectifiers need a high‐frequency switching device and a reactor to improve the input power factor. However, the proposed power converter does not need the switching device, electrolytic capacitor, or reactor. By making many ripples across the DC‐bus voltage, the input power factor can be improved. The proposed system consists of only a single‐phase diode rectifier, small film capacitor, three‐phase inverter, and motor. The proposed system adopts an interior permanent magnet (IPM) synchronous motor. The IPM motor is well known as a high‐efficiency motor and can realize field weakening. The basic ideas of the inverter control method are based on the following operations: the inverter's controlled synchronous with the DC‐bus ripple voltage by field‐weakening method, and direct active power feeding from the source side to the motor without smoothing the DC‐bus voltage. This paper describes that the proposed method can obtain an input power factor of 97.3% by experimental tests, and realizes the goals of small size and long life of the system. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 152(2): 66–73, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20047     

A highly efficient single‐phase sine‐wave inverter with single‐switch high‐frequency modulation

This paper presents a highly efficient single‐phase sine‐wave inverter with single‐switch high‐frequency modulation. In this topology, a control circuit is connected at the lower arm of a full‐bridge inverter to control the output voltage across the full‐bridge inverter. The switch at the lower arm of the full‐bridge inverter controls the output voltage of the full‐bridge inverter by increasing or reducing the voltage level at the lower arm of the inverter. This switch of lower arm is controlled by a high‐frequency sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) switching signal, while the power switches of the full‐bridge inverter operate with a square‐wave switching signal at the line frequency to unfold DC–AC inversion, thus producing a sinusoidal voltage at the load. Both computer simulation and experiment are carried out to verify the performance of the proposed topology. Experimental results from a 1000‐W laboratory prototype are presented to testify and validate the analysis, design, and performance of the proposed topology. The results show that the proposed topology has nearly sinusoidal output voltage and current waveforms with a total harmonics distortion of less than 5%. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Feasible enhancement of a three‐phase soft‐switching inverter with an auxiliary resonant DC link snubber

The purpose of this paper is to improve power conversion efficiency of a three‐phase voltage source type soft‐switching inverter with a single auxiliary resonant DC link (ARDCL) snubber. First, the operating principle of an ARDCL snubber discussed here is described. Second, this paper proposes an effective pulse pattern generation method of the zero voltage space vector of the three‐phase soft‐switching inverter using IGBTs or power modules that can reduce power losses in the ARDCL snubber treated here. In particular, a zero voltage holding interval in the DC rail busline of this three‐phase soft‐switching inverter is to be regulated according to the generation method of the zero voltage space vector. Third, the maximum modulation depth M_max under the condition of correction of the instantaneous voltage space vector can be improved by using a new zero voltage space vector generation method. Finally, the feasible experimental results of this inverter are obtained confirming the operating characteristics such as power conversion actual efficiency, as well as conventional efficiency THD and RMS value of the balanced three‐phase output voltage for an experimentally built three‐phase voltage source type soft‐switching pulse modulated inverter using the latest IGBT modules and evaluated from the standpoint of practical applications in industry UPS and new energy systems. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 146(1): 89–99, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10234     

A three‐phase voltage‐source PWM inverter system characterized by sinusoidal output voltage with neither common‐mode voltage nor normal‐mode voltage

This paper deals with an inverter system integrating a small‐rated passive EMI filter with a three‐phase voltage‐source PWM inverter. The purpose of the EMI filter is to eliminate both common‐mode and normal‐mode voltages from the output voltage of the inverter. The motivation of this research is based on the well‐known fact that the higher the carrier or switching frequency, the smaller and the more effective the EMI filter. An experimental system consisting of a 5‐kVA inverter, a 3.7‐kW induction motor, and a specially designed passive EMI filter was constructed to verify the viability and effectiveness of the EMI filter. As a result, it is shown experimentally that both three‐phase line‐to‐line and line‐to‐neutral output voltages look purely sinusoidal as if the inverter system were an ideal variable‐voltage, variable‐frequency power supply when viewed from the motor terminals. This results in complete solution of serious issues related to common‐mode and normal‐mode voltages produced by the inverter. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 145(4): 88–96, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10206     

Novel current‐source multilevel inverter driven by single gate drive power supply

This paper proposes a novel current‐source multilevel inverter, which is based on a current‐source half‐bridge topology. Multilevel inverters are effective for reducing harmonic distortion in the output voltage and the output current. However, the multilevel inverters require many gate drive power supplies to drive switching devices. The gate drive circuits using a bootstrap circuit and a pulse transformer can reduce the number of the gate drive power supplies, but the pulse width of the output PWM waveform is limited. Furthermore, high‐speed power switching devices are indispensable to create a high‐frequency power converter, but various problems, such as high‐frequency noise, arise due to the high dv/dt rate, especially in high‐side switching devices. The proposed current‐source multilevel inverter is composed of a common emitter topology for all switching devices. Therefore, it is possible to operate it with a single power supply for the gate drive circuit, which allows stabilizing the potential level of all the drive circuits. In this paper, the effectiveness of the proposed circuit is verified through experimental results. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 166(2): 88–95, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20475     

Optimal control of a single‐phase H‐bridge DC–AC inverter

The control of switched power converters has been mostly accomplished using pulse width modulation (PWM). Under this type of control, it has been shown in literature that DC–AC current mode single‐phase inverter may exhibit chaotic behavior if the proportional controller of the PWM modulator is badly tuned. In this work, we present a novel method to control the inverter using an optimal control approach. Our method consists in defining the switching instances in order to achieve the reference current with minimum error. To illustrate the efficiency of our proposed method, numerical simulations and comparison with the proportional and integral controller as well as to the proportional and resonant controller are presented. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An improved method of voltage utility factor for PWM control of a five‐leg inverter in two induction motor drives

This paper presents an improved method of voltage utility factor (VUF) from 50 to 86.6% for a five‐leg inverter when two induction motors are driven in vector control and in a condition where the frequencies of the two motors are not very different, and the improved method of voltage utility is theoretically shown. Many modulation methods for the five‐leg inverter have been proposed, but the voltage utility factor is 50% in these methods. The voltage utility factor of the five‐leg inverter is lower than that of the three‐leg inverter as maximum voltage utility factor of the three‐leg inverter is 100%. © 2006 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A pseudo‐differential current‐reuse structure for opamp‐sharing pipelined analog‐to‐digital converters

In this paper, a power efficient pseudo‐differential (PD) current‐reuse structure is presented to alleviate the memory effects of opamp‐sharing in pipelined analog‐to‐digital converters. To implement the PD current‐reuse structure, a switched‐capacitor circuit is introduced for multiplying digital‐to‐analog converter, which has a slight modification compared with the conventional switching scheme with no power penalty. In the proposed multiplying digital‐to‐analog converter circuit, the common‐mode offset amplification of the PD structures is eliminated. Moreover, a PD current‐reuse amplifier is developed from the telescopic structure with an inverter‐based gain‐boosting circuit. The effectiveness of the proposed structure is evaluated in comparison with existing current‐reuse techniques. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Control and performance of a zero‐current‐switched,three‐phase PWM inverter equipped with resonant circuits on the ac side

This paper presents a zero‐current‐switched voltage‐fed inverter equipped with resonant circuits on the ac side. The current flowing through a switching device, that is, IGBT, is the sum of the load current and the resonant current. When the amplitude of the resonant current is larger than that of the load current, the current in the switching device becomes zero at an instant in each resonant cycle. This allows the switching device to be turned on or off at the zero current. The zero‐current switching makes a significant contribution to reduction of switching losses and electromagnetic noises. In this paper, the principle of zero‐current‐switching operation, along with a novel control scheme, is described from a theoretical and practical point of view. Experimental results obtained from a laboratory system of 5 kVA verify the practicability. Moreover, the switching and conduction losses of the proposed soft‐switched inverter are compared with those of a conventional hard‐switched inverter. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 131(4): 85–95, 2000     

A simplified cascade current‐source inverter interconnected to a single‐phase three‐wire distribution system and its application to electric energy storage systems with batteries

A novel current source inverter system interconnected to the single‐phase grid is proposed. It has the same construction as the conventional three‐phase current source inverter that is interconnected to the single‐phase three‐wire distribution system. Though the proposed circuit has no output transformer, it can be equivalently performed as the single‐phase double cascade inverter by diverting the pole transformer in the utility system. By controlling the appropriate scheme, the output currents can be obtained as the five‐level waveforms and their distortions can be decreased sufficiently. It is applied to the interactive electric energy storage system with batteries and the basic discharging characteristics are discussed experimentally. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 150(2): 50–61, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10380     

Operation analysis of quasi‐resonant,high‐frequency transformer link dc–ac converters applied to phase‐shift PWM control on the secondary side

In recent years, the soft‐switching techniques have attracted attention for their peculiar advantages such as low switching loss, high power density, EMI/RFI noise reduction, and so on. The authors have previously reported on a quasi‐resonant dc–dc converter using new phase‐shift PWM control scheme. By using the proposed control scheme, circulating current is eliminated and ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) is achieved with small commutating current. As a result, the conduction losses caused by their currents are substantially reduced. In this paper, the authors apply a proposed control scheme to a quasi‐resonant high‐frequency transformer link dc–ac converter. As a result, all switching devises in this dc–ac converter can achieve soft switching with small commutating current irrespective of inverter mode and rectifier mode. Its operating principle and unique features are described as compared with the symmetrical control scheme of dc–ac converter. Operating performance of this dc–ac converter in the steady state is illustrated by means of simulation results. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 130(2): 88–98, 2000     

基于脉冲跳变的空间矢量脉冲宽度调制策略

针对二极管钳位型单相九电平逆变器,分析其工作原理,提取了逆变器工作的有效开关状态。根据伏秒平衡原理和两矢量三段式调制规律,提出了一种基于脉冲跳变的空间矢量脉冲宽度调制(space vector pulse width modulation,SVPWM)策略。通过分析所有开关周期脉冲的跳变情况,给出了脉冲类型的判断条件,并根据脉冲类型计算起始和终止电压矢量及其作用时间;同时,应用FPGA设计了模块化SVPWM控制系统,并对该控制系统进行了时钟与资源消耗评估。性能分析结果表明,该调制策略计算速度快、资源消耗小。最后,仿真与实验结果验证了所提调制策略的正确性和有效性,而且能够有效地均衡电容电压。